Postal users left with mixed feelings by delay in postal liberalisation
The Postal Users Group (PUG) expressed disappointment about the further delay in the liberalisation of the postal market following the vote in the Plenary of the European Parliament yesterday in Strasbourg. MEPs rejected the Commission’s proposal of 2009 as the deadline for removing the remaining “reserved area” (i.e. monopoly by the national postal operator, which is now for letters of 50 grams or less) and opted for market opening by 31 December 2010, with an exemption for the new Member States and Member States with a “difficult topography” who can liberalise their markets by 31 December 2012.
The European Parliament’s Plenary has also adopted some amendments that confirm a more user oriented focus for the European postal sector. The Postal Users Group is particularly happy with the proposal for a reimbursement scheme for stolen, damaged or lost postal items by the Member States and the guarantee of affordable postal services, as well as the increased transparency and efficiency of the European postal sector, which will be of benefit to the users of postal services in Europe – both consumers and businesses.
Throughout PUG has stressed the need for the Public Postal Operators (PPOs) to focus on user needs – such as small and large publishers, e-commerce providers and direct marketers – to achieve the full potential of the sector. This is a message that PPOs working in liberalised – or soon to be liberalised – markets have take to heart, and are working with users to launch innovative new products and services that help grow mail as a viable communication with a healthy and sustainable future.
Per Mortensen, Chairman of the PUG, expressed mixed feelings about the outcome of the vote: “It’s a shame that the deadline for liberalisation has been postponed. However, I am happy that there is now a fixed date and that we, the users, can prepare for the further development of a healthy business relationship between the Posts and its customers. Users will enjoy the full potential of a liberalised postal sector and the efficiency and innovation that comes with it”.
